Suzanne Somer's Eat, Cheat, and Melt the Fat away (Paperback)

The book has a good balance of information. It begins with a foreword by Dr. Diana Schwarzbein that lays out the medical basis for the Somers' approach. "If you do not have any hormonal problems then eating balanced meals will quickly reestablish hormonal harmony." "If you do not notice immediate results in your moods, sleep, and energy levels then you are either eating incorrectly for your own personal metabolism, you are stressed, ingest too many chemicals, do not exercise enough or exercise too much, or have a hormonal balance that needs to be addressed, or an insulin resistance, menopause, thyroid disease, or a low-serotonin level." In other words, eating a balanced diet like the one described here should make you feel better or you have a medical problem that needs treating. Try eating better quality foods in moderation, then see your doctor if problems persist. That's good advice.

The book does a fine job (like Sugarbusters!) of explaining why foods with simple carbohydrates cause most people to gain weight and feel lousy. The book is also solid on why dieting by cutting calories tends to make it harder to lose and keep weight off.

The Somers' approach is at two levels, one for dieting, and one for maintenance. These are pretty commonsense, except the fat levels are way too high for those at risk of heart or artery disease. The only thing you have to remember is when you can eat what. You cannot mix fruit with anything. You can eat fats and protein with vegetables. You can eat carbohydrates with vegetables. You cannot mix fats/protein with carbohydrates. The reasons have something to do with enzymes and digestion times, but there is no research cited to support all of this. Ms. Somers seems a little defensive on this point.

The book claims that two million people have lost weight on the diet. Many testimonials are included as sidebars. I don't know how anyone could know that. Perhaps it's true. I don't know.

The recipes look like something I could make. I usually stick to heating up cans of vegetable soup, so I'm not a good person to judge.

The book avoids any discussion of the effects of blood type, so I suspect that the diet probably works well for one or two of the blood types and less well for the others. My suspicion is that this is a type B diet. If you are type A, you probably won't like it because you will be eating more protein and fat than you like. If you are type O, you may not get as much protein as you need and too much fat. See Live Right 4 Your Type for more information on those points.

Research also shows that some people have a higher weight set point than others. Many highly overweight people have better eating habits than people with "normal" weights. Genes seem to make the difference. This book doesn't really focus on that point. Not everyone is going to look like they should be an actress on television, no matter how well they eat and exercise.

Eat healthy, unprocessed foods in moderate quantities and exercise moderately! Then, chill out . . . .